Earth Day: Reduce Your Water Footprint on a Shoestring

Want to save water this Earth Day, April 22, but don't have the
budget for a bathroom makeover or landscaping redesign? Just take
some of these 10 simple tips to heart and stop pouring money down
the drain.

Teach an old faucet new tricks. If you're
not ready to invest in a new faucet, why not update your old
one with a WaterSense
labeled aerator? Aerators can cost as little as a few dollars.

Perfect your timing. Once the weather starts
warming up, remember to water your garden during the cool morning
hours to reduce evaporation.

Trash your facial tissues. Don't flush
them—one less flush per day can save nearly 1,300 gallons
of water over the course of a year. That's enough to wash
about 32 loads of laundry! And speaking of laundry…

Lighten your load. Did you know that washing
clothes is the second largest use of indoor water? Combine small
loads to eliminate one load per week and you'll save 2,100
gallons of water per year.

Grow green. To maintain a green, healthy lawn,
you don't need to water every day. To find out if your
grass is thirsty, stick a screwdriver in the ground. If it goes
in easily, don't water!

Take a stand. Running a bath can require up
to 70 gallons of water. But a five-minute shower? Just 10 to
25 gallons. So ditch the tub and stand up for water efficiency!

Defeat drips. If you took the Fix
a Leak Week pledge last month, you already know that a faucet
that leaks one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons
of water per year. Fixing leaks is often cheap and easy—and
it could reduce your water bill by more than 10 percent!

Keep your (water) cool. Fill your glass with
cool water from a pitcher in the fridge. This way, the water
goes in your glass, not down the drain.

Get to know the natives. If you're a
gardener, find out which plants are native to your region. Climate-appropriate
species require less water, so ask an expert at your local nursery
which plants are homegrown and drought-tolerant.

Follow the money. If you think installing
high-efficiency toilets or faucets will cost big bucks, you
might be pleasantly surprised. Replacing old, inefficient plumbing
fixtures with their WaterSense labeled counterparts can actually
save you money in the long term. To find out how much you'll
save, crunch the numbers with our calculator.

For more water- and money-saving tips, check out EPA's
Earth Day page. And have a happy, thrifty Earth Day!

Concerned Citizen Brings Smaller Flush to Big Sky Country

The amount of water a toilet flushes seems like an unlikely concern
to preoccupy the owner of an adventure travel company. After all,
there are mountains to climb and horses to corral. But Kent Madin,
owner of Boojum Expeditionsin Bozeman, Montana, was acutely aware of the need to save water
in this Western state, which depends mainly on rainwater and melting
snowpack to supply its citizens' water needs. “My wife
would call it something of an obsession,” Madin says.

After returning from a trip to Europe, where dual-flush
toiletsare more commonplace, Madin wondered why hadn't his hometown,
and elsewhere in the United States, embraced this water-efficient
technology? Then, in January 2008, a local
newspaper article
about Bozeman becoming the first city in Montana to partner with
WaterSense sparked an idea. With a phone call to the city, Madin
helped spur on what would become the Greater Gallatin Toilet Tradeout,
a toilet replacement program for the greater Gallatin Valley around
Bozeman.

“A toilet retrofit program,” says Brian Heaston, city
conservation program manager, “was a great way to kick off
the city's water conservation efforts and inform the community
that the city is an active proponent of water conservation and will
be for the long haul.”

The rebate program offered Bozeman municipal customers rebates
of $25 or $75 on WaterSense labeled toilets, with special pricing
available on certain models for a limited time. During the six-week
event, Bozeman processed more than 300 rebate applications and manufacturer
Kohler sold 875 WaterSense labeled toilets through Ferguson, its
largest local distributor. All told, the event has saved an estimated
3.45 million gallons of water annually in and around the city of
Bozeman.

Looking back nearly a year later, Madin says, “It was a universally
positive response. We haven't heard any complaints [about
the toilets].”

For individuals contemplating a similar event for their communities,
Madin recommends starting with a broad-based partnership and reaching
out to all the players. “Get a committee with a depth and
breadth of perspectives,” he says, adding that academic credentials
and local legislature can be a big help. “And be sure no one
in the normal business chain feels threatened.”

The Greater Gallatin Toilet Tradeout included at least a dozen
different individuals and organizations: the city of Bozeman, Ferguson,
Kohler, state Rep. Jennifer Pomnichowski (D-Bozeman), Montana State
University, Allied Waste Services, local plumbers, and the Southwest
Montana Building Industry Association, among others.

Next, Madin recommends planning an event with a clearly defined
beginning and end. An event with a distinct start and finish helps
to build momentum and motivates people to participate. In a timely
twist, the Greater Gallatin Toilet Tradeout kicked off on World
Water Day.

And don't forget about disposal. While most of the swapped-out
toilets went to a disposal center for demolition, where the ceramic
will be reused as aggregate in road construction projects, Madin
salvaged a few of the most colorful tanks for flower planters. In
his opinion, these old, inefficient toilets have ended up where
they belong: pushing up daisies on his front porch.

Would You Like a Free Toilet With That?

Find a WaterSense Rebate

Did you know that more than two dozen WaterSense utility partners
offer rebates for customers who swap out their old, inefficient
toilets for WaterSense labeled models? These rebates range from
$35 to the toilet's full cost; for example, Austin Water Utility
in Texas will pay back its customers for the full price of a new
WaterSense labeled model, plus the installation fees!

Besides saving money on the purchase and installation of a new
throne, rebate participants will also reap the savings on water
bills for years to come. Check
here to see if there is a rebate opportunity in your area. Rebate
offers vary, so check your local WaterSense utility partner Web
site for details and restrictions.

Make Bill Nye Proud

Fulfilling these pledges would save nearly 18,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year from not having to pump and treat the water, eliminating 13 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. That's like planting more than 300 trees.

Need ideas for your kid's school science fair? Or just want
to coax them to turn off the TV? WaterSense has the answers! The
program has many engaging and educational materials geared toward
students and teachers.

The WaterSense quiz encourages
kids to rescue the water-efficiency hero, Flo, while answering
questions about water use and avoiding water-wasting monsters. You
and your kids can experiment with any of the tips provided and collect
data on the water you'll save. Or try out the Water
Savings and Energy Calculator, which can help demonstrate how
much a household can save by switching out old, inefficient toilets
and bathroom sink faucets with WaterSense labeled models.

For a more hands-on project, check out leak
detection tips for the home. Every member of the family can
help find and fix leaks both indoors and out.

And teachers should check out the educational
materials provided on the Web site for grades 3 to 5. These
interactive assignments not only teach students about where their
water comes from and what happens when it leaves their homes, but
it also encourages them to monitor their own family's water
use so they can learn how to save this precious resource. See the
WaterSense Kids' page for
more ideas.

475 Drips Pledge to Change Their Wasting Ways

Or at least that's how many Americans took the pledge
to fix a leak. Each of these households could potentially
save more than 11,000 gallons per year by eliminating household
leaks.

If all 475 households honor their pledge, the Fix a Leak
Week campaign will save more than 5 million gallons of water
annually—enough to fill eight Olympic-sized swimming
pools! View a map
of which parts of the country leapt to the challenge.

Even though Fix a Leak Week has passed, it's never too late to nip the drips that could be accounting for 12 percent of
your water bill. Learn how you
can fix a leak.

Partner Profile: Timothy Malooly

The WaterSense Current periodically profiles outstanding WaterSense
partners and their achievements in advancing water efficiency and
water-efficient products and practices.

With spring chasing away winter from backyards across the country,
WaterSense asked for some expert advice on water-efficient landscaping
from Timothy Malooly, the 2008 WaterSense Irrigation Partner of
the Year.

WaterSense: What advice do you have for homeowners
running their irrigation systems for the first time this season?

Timothy: If you have an in-ground system, step
one is to have your irrigation system properly serviced by a WaterSense
irrigation partner. Consider walking around your property with
this irrigation professional and learning whether irrigation water
is going where it should, in the amounts it should.

WaterSense: Why is it important to check irrigation
systems after winter?

Timothy: It's important to check for damage over
the winter and make adjustments as needed. Winter conditions often
result in frost-heaving, or a resettling of the ground as it freezes,
which leaves sprinklers pitched or set too high. It's important
they are properly set. In locations where sand and salt are put
on the roads, sprinklers near the street can be damaged by snowplows
or might not seal or operate properly due to grit lodged inside
them. Not surprisingly, spring is one of the most common periods
for leaks to occur in irrigation systems. A trained technician can
look for these problems, make repairs, and set the irrigation system's
operation for springtime conditions.

WaterSense: Are there any gadgets that can make
this job easier?

Timothy: Repair work takes a trained eye and the
proper tools, but if you don't have a smart controller to
automatically manage your system's watering schedule, you
will do yourself and your wallet a big favor by having one installed.
Smart irrigation controllers take over scheduling of irrigation
cycles based on changing weather and the needs of the landscape,
instead of having a robotic controller that simply repeats irrigation
cycles over and over regardless of the weather.

WaterSense: What about homeowners who irrigate
the old-fashioned way, with a hose?

Timothy: From an efficiency perspective, this is
a tough one. One tip I might suggest is to get a battery-operated
timer that attaches between the spigot and hose so the sprinkler
will shut off after a given amount of time. That way, if you have
to leave the property while the sprinkler is still running, the
timer will shut it off automatically so you're not wasting
water while you're away. Also, set the sprinkler so it doesn't
water sidewalks and other hardscapes. If you're fertilizing,
apply small portions at a time in order to properly water-in the
fertilizer and avoid burning the landscape.

WaterSense:
Is it better to water your lawn in the morning or the evening?

Timothy: In the morning. It's best to water
when the weather is cooler, when the sun is coming up in the morning
before noon. Dusk is not as good as dawn because if there is any
extra water on the landscape overnight, it's likely to promote
fungus and other diseases.

WaterSense: Do you have any water-efficient plant
recommendations for gardeners?

Timothy: When replacing plants, consider using
plants that are native to your region. Another tip is in the heat
of summer, try not to mow your lawn as short as you might in the
spring or fall. The lawn will be more resistant to heat and will
look better. Also, plant shade trees! Once established, they will
help reduce water needs by cooling off the landscaping. Properly
selected and placed trees can help cool inside the house too, which
reduces the need for air conditioning and saves money.

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